EF2 Tornado — Barron, Wisconsin

2017-05-16 · near Reeve, Barron, Wisconsin

Event narrative

The tornado first developed over southeastern Polk County, then tracked mostly east-northeast across southern Barron before moving into Rusk County and eventually Price County. In Barron County, the tornado hit numerous farmsteads, devastating barns and other outbuildings. The hardest hit area in Barron County was just north of Chetek, WI, where high-end EF2 damage was found. A number of mobile homes were completely demolished, and this is where the one fatality occurred. After that, several turkey barns were leveled, and then multiple homes were hit hard near Prairie Lake, especially those on the eastern shore.

Wider weather episode

Severe thunderstorms developed along a warm-front in Southern Minnesota during the afternoon. During the late-afternoon and evening, storms continued to progress eastward and develop over Northwestern Wisconsin. One supercell developed a long-track tornado that traveled 83 miles from 5 miles south of Clayton, WI to 13 miles southeast of Hawkins, WI. This is likely the longest single tornado track in Wisconsin since records began being kept in 1950, as a couple events in May 1953 were very likely multiple tornadoes. There were also numerous reports of very large hail, up to 3 inches in diameter that occurred in a long swath from southwest to Amery, to near Cameron.

Based on damage assessments through the state of Wisconsin, the total number of residential homes affected in Barron County alone was 160. Of those affected, 75 had minor damage, 45 had major damage, and 40 were destroyed. Total estimated damages were 5.1 million dollars. The total number of businesses affected in Barron County was 6. Of those, 2 had minor damage, and 4 were destroyed. Total estimated damages were 5.0 million dollars. This includes six barns at a Jennie-O turkey farm, located off of Highway SS and north of Highway OO near Chetek's Prairie Lake Estates mobile park, where some were destroyed. There were approximately 25,000 birds lost in the tornado.

In Rusk County, the total number of residential homes was 27. Of those affected, 21 had minor damage, 3 had major damage, and 1 was destroyed. Total estimated damages were $420,000 dollars.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (45.2551, -92.1562)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 689564. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.